swirl no. 1

[autumnish]

She was running. Just a minute ago. She was chasing a bus, because although the next bus wouldn't delay her by more than ten minutes, fifteen max, chasing buses is an inevitable part of Aarhusian daily life. Everybody does it and so, Aki did as well. Then, she turned a corner and now, she has no idea where she is. It doesn't look like the square she was heading for, it doesn't look like a square at all.

In the blink of an eye, she's landed herself in a small, vintage-style cafe with blue-patterned porcelain and highly decorated cupcakes, beckoning for her to take a rest, enjoy a break, it seems like an invitation, the oddest she's received in her life. Aki comes to think of Alice, her great adventures in Wonderland and at the risk of running into her very own Queen of Hearts, she moves over to the nearest of the large armchairs and sits down, gingerly. Lets her eyes follow the many rows of books displayed on the shelves that are hanging on the wall. Touches her teacup with careful fingertips.

Whom might she not be joined by, in a place as dreamy as this?

Comments

[autumnish]

She noticed him the very moment he stepped through the door, but Aki has been brought up well and refrains from staring as the zombie-like man makes his way around the cafe, tending to his own business, so surely she does the same. Pours herself a cup of tea and arranges a muffin on her plate, dead centre, the symmetry perfect. A circle within a circle. Only when he sits down in her vicinity, grinning and asking what she's drinking, does she give him her full attention, trying not to let her disbelief show. Not too obviously, at least. He looks like something out of a Haunted House display. He doesn't even look real. The words won't come naturally and she has to clear her throat once, before she can answer him. "I'm not sure," she says, reaching for her cup and lifting it to her lips, tasting the tea for the first time. It's a white blend, maybe with a hint of peach. Luckily, she loves white tea. "It tastes peachy."

[westfallcorndog]

Harrowheart invites his hands to move toward her tea and waft a little of the steam his way so that he can get a sniff. Yeah, he gets a hint of peaches! He smiles and begins to nod as he leans back in his chair.

"So... You're from a world where they got peaches. And you're..."

He tips his head away and narrows his eyes thoughtfully as he appraises her. "Human? You look human, anyway. And It's always a safe bet to guess humans who wind up here came from an Earth."

He raises his eyebrows and smiles expectantly. "Am I right, or am I wrong?"

[autumnish]

An Earth? Does that mean that she's now in a place of multiple Earths? Aki has to take a minute to really understand the scope of his observations, how much he's actually telling her in very few words. She's now in a place where not everyone is human, which she might have thought obvious by the looks of him and a place where there might be more than... one Earth. It's mind-boggling! Smiling finally, a bit hesitantly, she nods and turns further away from her tea, towards him. "My name is Aki," she introduces herself, "and I'm definitely from... some kind of Earth, I suppose. One with peaches. What about you?"